Start Up
by xyllia-xerxes
Summary: It's the sweepers' night! Well, that's what Train wished to. But the couple turned the night into a mess.


**Start Up**

**By xyllia-xerxes**

The first Black Cat fic from xyllia-xerxes is ready to entertain you out! All characters belong to Yabuki Kentaro-sensei. Oh, come on, sensei, give me those characters.. But you know, that won't happen. Man. Guess I'm not that lucky enough. Happy reading, then.

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It was nine o'clock, which meant the bar began to open its door and welcomed its customers. Yellow dim lights started to turn on, making the whole building glow between the darkness of the night. With gallons of drinks and sacks of delicacies, the favourite spot for the night set itself to be stepped in by the roadpassers and night bastards.

Or even sweepers.

Crossing the seemed-to-be never ending road, the hilarious group, including the professional rogue Rinslet, the nanomachine girl Eve, the green-haired oldie smoking Sven Vollfied, and the strayed cat Train Heartnet now made its way to the next nearest town, sitting comfortably in Sven's white volkswagen, the party was looking for a nice place to get some rest. The long yellow-haired girl which wore her favourite black dress, was sleeping serenely on the back row. Beside the girl was Rinslet, holding up her compact mirror on the left hand and her bright red lipstick on her right, putting the dense substance on her lips. Moving to the front row, Sven was grumping to himself while holding the steer, cigarette stucked between his lips. On the man's left was the runaway Chronos member, who seemed to enjoy his cheese sticks so much. Munching a handful of the crunchy snack, he tapped at the grumping man and grinned, "Sven, my cheese sticks started to run out."

Knowing that the tobacco in his mouth started to get shorten, he opened the car window and spitted the white stick. With his left hand steering the old vehicle, he took another stick and set the lighter on. When fire started to glow at the tip of the man's favourite item, he sipped it and blowed a mouthful of grey smoke. He laughed and pulled a sinister grin to the number thirteen's matter.

"My Marlboro seemed tastier than those cheesy stuff, ya know."

The brown haired boy didn't reply. For even worse, he didn't pay any attention at all. Still gritting his favourite snack, he laughed innocently with eyebrows lifted high,leaving the "he-said-he's-a-gentleman-but-indeed-he's-not" man blabbering alone. Annoyed with the boy's reaction, Sven Vollfied bit his dear tobacco as hard as he could and ashes from the stick scattered vigorously throughout the air. Loosening his maroon tie, he scowled and hit the boy's head. "You did never learn how to listen, you dumbass-"

"Look over there!"exclaimed the number thirteen the car went towards the lit house. Laughters, groozles and shouts could be heard from a distance. In front of the wooden house a tall sign stood high in the ground with a word "BAR" painted with a gold colour substance. The sign looked so old that it was about to fall out soon, and crisps of woods peeled from its origin.

Ignoring the signboard the building itself looked strangely pristine enough, to be classified. The cubical square was surrounded with rows of yellow dim streetlights, and same amount of light occured on the bar itself. Gallons of whiskies was piled neatly on the right side of the drinking spot, with several fragile wooden boxes, and 'vodka' witten on it. Train Heartnet, imagining what a fun place it would be, popped out his face at Sven and begged him to go inside.

"Sven, Sven! It might be good idea if we good there and have some fun."

The gentleman went blank. He's exhausted enough for driving through such a period of time, plus meddling with the person beside him which kept roaring and turning up and down continously. He peeped on his pocket and found out that his cigars were starting to run out. No, he couldn't live without those addictive sticks. Sipping the white bars would brought him to seventh heaven. A happiness that stand above everything. So for this time, he had to go with Train's will, to go inside the bar.

"Oh, well." He said. "we'll go there and stop for a moment. I need to restock my cigar either. You go and wake up those girls, Train."

The runaway Chronos member turned back and blew some wind that he made from whipping the cheese sticks and yelled in joy, "Eve!Rins!Get your eyes open and we'll have a wonderful night at the bar!"

Both girls wake up. Eve, who still went dizzy, combed her hair using her petit fingers. "Bar? What for?"

"Just what like I said we're gonna have fun! It's sweepers' night!" Train uttered blissfully, and crunched his favourite snack.

"You mean that there's many books over there?" Eve replied, with an innocent look.

"Oh, come on, Eve-chan! It's not like what you think! There are lots of drinks and food and cool guys over there! You have to socialize a bit, Eve-chan-"

"Then there's no fun at all." The yellow-haired girl concluded, and Rinslet turned baffled.

"Hey – both of you – " Train started to talk when Sven cut his words.

"HERE WE ARE!" he grinned and set a wide beam. Setting the brake in rest position and pulled the key from the starter hole, he opened the door and stepped out. Train, realiing that they have reached the destination did the same thing. Eve and Rinslet followed.

The team formed a line, Sven in front, Train behind the green-haired guy, then Eve, and Rinslet, who was putting her maroon long coat on. They walked to the entrance and as the group leader, Sven pushed the door in.

The bar itself was a shallow horseshoe. A row of small tables barely big enough for two ran down the wall in front of the bar. Three bigger tables filled the space at the rear of the room. There were twelve seats at the bar, eight of them taken. Two women in their fifties sat in the two chairs, drinking something dark in ice. A thick, cloying perfume spread throughout the air and one of the women's cigarette dance with the movement of her red lips as she spoke to her friend. Next to them were a couple of beer drinkers; polo shirts with printing over the left breast pockets, both of them wore mustaches that worked down into beards that just covered their chin, on red, the other dark. Their eyes kept flicking up to what had to be a television screen that was hung steadily in one of the bar's corner.

There was a couple talking animatedly, sitting nearby to the opening where the bartenders would have to enter and exit. One was wearing a long black coatand owned a long golden hair, but seen from the posture it was almost sure that the person is a man. Next to the mysterious guy was a girl about the age of sixteen, and she looked like a high-schooler hyper girl since she kept pouting and mumbling to the man. In response to the girl's talk, he sipped on his big glass of golden substance and went silent.

"I think I know them very much, don't you think so, Sven?" Train asked while trying to come closer to the familiar figure.

"Nah. What do you think?" the green-haired boy bounced the question back. Eve and Rinslet stood still, watching the curious number thirteen to approach the main table.

"What's that silly Train doing?" Rins asked, folding her arms.

"As you see." Sven replied, and walked to the bar.

On the other side Train Heartnet finally arrived on the destination spot. Observing the couple seriously, he popped between them and made a guess.

"Charden!Kyoko!So it's you two who were sitting here pretending to know nothing!"

Kyoko didn't need any longer to know who the person was. She leaped and hugged the prince tight.

"Train-samaaaa! I know that we've been fated to meet here. It must be our love cupid who bowed his love arrow at both of us. It's our fate! Let me hug you for a while, Train-samaaaa!"

The runaway Chronos member struggled to get out from the fanatic girl's dark void. Then he crouched and took a seat beside Charden. Knowing that a new customer have come, the bartender rolled to the brown-haired boy and started to ask the customer's desire. Kyoko, magnetized by her prince's charm, slipped away next to the boy. "What would you like to drink, Train-sama? I'll pay all! Yes, I'll pay them all!"

Train put an annoyed look to the now wide-beaming high schooler girl. What in the world, he could met this devastation girl? He thought that the night would be serene but jovial, where he could spend the time being crunching and digesting all the food that the bar could serve.

He wouldn't have to endure Sven's complains, Eve's uneccessary questions (since hers was just too complicated) and Rins' noisy blabberings. Even for this time, he thought that those would be much better than Kyoko's hysterical screams. Oh well, everybody knew the one that was named "BlackCat". Maybe it's because he's way too famous. Every girls want to possess him. Guys adore him to death. Oh yeah,no wonder. Kyoko always pleaded on him.

"Oh come on Train-samaaa! I'll treat you anything you want! Which? Sherry? Margarita? Killepitsch?" Kyoko yelled at Train, pulling his sleeves and leaning herself on the boy's arm. He didn't know that Kyoko went drunk already. It looked like that she had a number of sherry. Great. What a brave high-shooler girl.

"Allright. Give me a Smirnoff then." Sven popped, cutting off the girl's offering.

"I'm not treating you, old man!" the shoulder-haired girl said in annoyance, feeling how damn the gentleman is. She bang the table and grab the glass filled with Smirnoff that the bartender had just poured on. Handling the fragile utensil carefully, she handed it to Train and set a wide beam for the many times.

"Stop it, Kyoko. I'm not a baby, you know. I can drink this by myself," Train Heartnet replied carelessly, taking the glass away from the girl.

"A baby won't drink Smirnoff, sweetheart. They'll suffer from angina if they do that. But still, those innocent newborns would definitely find their way to heaven." Kyoko murmured, her face looking absolutely red. Now Train couls assure, she was totally drunk. Plus, the "sweetheart" that she used to call himself. He knew that Kyoko was totally obsessed, perhaps over –obsessed. But it's okay, he'll took that as a compliment.

"Hey, Charden," Train called the golden haired man, who was enjoying his Vodka. Kyoko might have drunk, since she's still too young to consume those alcoholic drinks. But Train was absolutely sure, that it won't happen to Charden.

"I think your partner went drunk. Maybe she have reached the seventh heaven."

Charden removed his hat and walked to the now out-of-this-world girl. He examined the girl for a while. Kyoko was now sleeping, yet drooling slothfully. "Yeah, she must have drunk too much sherry. She did never listen to older people. What a termagant..."

He sneaked between Train and the girl knowing that this would be a good chance to separate them. Well, for Train, at least. "Train, move one chair. Let me sit beside her."

"Oh, that's great. I'll let you take care with him." Train replied and hold a breath, feeling th best moment of freedom. At last, he concluded silently. So he moved to and sat beside Eve. Rinslet already went off with another bar customers, and Sven was talking to one of the bartender who was now wiping off the used glasses. But no, Sven wouldn't do such a thing like that. He must be bargaining for lower tobacco price. Train had no choice. He crouched behind the nanomachine girl and tried to find out what she was reading.

"Hey Eve," Train called. "What are you reading?"

Eve didn't show any movement being alerted to the boy's question. But still, she nodded and replied with a small voice. "Alcoholic Effects on Your Health, Book Two." And she flipped to the next page of the super thick book.

Amusement was the only thing that Traihn Heartnet felt after he heard trhe title that Eve was reading. He thought that it might be some kind of tough luck that the book titlematches with the location they are relaxing now. That girl's kinda mysterious, no one can see her soul inside. Or indeed it would never be seen. Train crouched to the bartender whose his work pace have slowed down, and ask for a shot of Martini. Plus a bowl of cheese sticks. Of course, the worker went baffled. A shot of Martini but accompanied by cheese sticks? Are this guy a moron or what? But even he didn't care even a single time. The bartender just took whatever his customer wished to have. Obtaining the beverage and snack, he went back to Eve and tried to put out something into a conversation.

"So, Eve." Train started to talk. "Does that book really good?"

Again Eve replied without looking at her partner. Her eyes were just only for the lines printed on her dearly book. "Yes, it's wonderful. Well written, smartly condensed, it's radiant."

Train couldn't get it. How could such a book made a young girl became so enthrilled more than anything else? He knew that he's not a bookworm like his hime-sama did. Which meant that there wasn't a single chance for him to ask her and have some fun. It would be chaos versus serenity. And that would be an absolutely absurd, senseless, ludicrous thing to do. However, he could see that Kyoko and Charden had both went totally drunk. Sven was mumbling himself (like he always do) and Rins was chatting with other customer whom looked like they were amateur sweepers. Well, he can do nothing. She's the queen of socialite queen. The number-one genial girl. Again, he had to try his luck talking with the golden haired girl.

"Eve," called Train with a smile, "Guess what, I got something for you."

"Show me." She replied shortly. "Is it a book?"

Train went frozen for awhile. That offering just slipped out from his moith without ensuring what item he would give to the girl. On this condition, he knew he had to come up with something. Whatever it is. And he got it. He lifted his glass of Martini up and brought it into front of Eve. "Here, have a shot. It's a great thing, Eve."

"This is not a book. Then it's no good." She commented and shook her head.

"Am I telling you that I would give you a book?" Train answered with a bit of an annoyed voice. "Go on. Have a shot on it."

Eve took the glass up. Staring at the transparent substance, she finally let the Martini passed through her oesophagus. Then she went silent.

Train, who was wrapped in anxiety to the reaction, summoned all his bravery and asked. "How is it, Eve?"

Eve didn't make a response. Instead, she hiccuped and lifted the glass up again. So she took the second shop.

Train watched with anticipation. 'Hope there won't be anything bad, or anything destructive, would happen..' he thought. Again he tried to ask.

"seems you're having a whale of time, don't you, Eve?"

"Yes." She said. "I am."

"Girl. You are hell on wheels." Train said, yet putting a wide grin.

"You never changed, Train. You're always thinking with a preadolescent IQ." She implied and hiccuped again.

It was an enough clue for Train Heartnet to conclude that Eve have went totally drunk. At this time he could only pray that the substance won't turn the nanomachine in her body awake and made this bar into a victim of devastation. To ensure that it won't happen, he made a statement right to Eve. Or maybe some kind of a predicament.

"Yeah. You're having a blast right there. And you'll be allright with it."

"Well, your etiquette hasn't changed, Train."

"What can I say, Eve? Evolution is a creeping process." The brown haired boy answered.

"But things do change." Eve replied with a shaking voice, and lifted her glass up. "Bartender, one more shot, please."

Train was shocked to see that the girl asked for more. He thought, this might be a progress. One step closer to made this old-fashioned girl into a retro chic! So he just went silent and let Eve took another shot.

"Lemme guess, Eve." Train called. "You must be thinking that Martini's damn good, so you asked that man in white apron to fill some more into your glass."

The tone suddenly changed.

"You're a psychic, Train." She gulped the alcoholic drink again, then continued.. "No, you're a dinosaur."

"Oh." Train answered shortly. Looks like he too went drunk already, since he had just finished his sixth shot of Smirnoff.

"Thank's for that, Eve."

And the night goes on.

_**-end-**_

Well, as you've reached here that means it is the end of the fic. Thanks for reading, and of course, I am longing for a REVIEW from all of you guys.. I would really appreciate it. I also appologize for all mistakes that I made throughout the story, as usual. Once again, thanks for everything! Now click on the blue button below and type what do you think about this fic :D


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